9.1 Lifelong learning in knowledge society  (Page 4/4)

Responses

5 Responses to “Lifelong Learning in Knowledge Society Introduction”

1. ken udas - may 29th, 2007 at 9:47 pm

Farideh, First, thank you for this very interesting posting. I must admit that I have a rather special place for life long learning and I like your approach. Although I do understand that you are referring to all activities in which we engage as learning opportunities, I am wondering of you see a special role for formal educational institutions such as schools and universities in lifelong learning? What would schools and universities have to do to become more relevant to lifelong learning in the knowledge society that you describe? Are there organizations that are better suited to lifelong learning than are schools and universities? Ken

2. farideh mashayekh (bazargan) - may 31st, 2007 at 3:01 pm

Ken, Thank you for your comment about Lifelong Learning in Knowledge Society.

Yes, I see a very special role for formal educational institutions such as schools and universities.

As you may have noticed in pedagogy.ir site logos, LLL. starts from cradle to grave .Therefore, formal educational institutions are supposed to prepare learners (from early ages up to graduation and after) with generative skills and key competencies. Such as: communication and research skills ,information and scientific literacy. These skills and competencies are either included in existing curriculum or should be included and strengthened. Farideh

3. ken udas - june 1st, 2007 at 12:38 pm

Farideh, Thank you. I think that there is a lot here. I am interested in hearing your thoughts about some of the relationships between life long learning in formal institutions like schools, universities, trade schools, corporate training, etc., and the type of life long learning that happens in very informal contexts. For example, the learning that occurs when your first birthday is celebrated, your first contact

with a computer, your first experience with the police, etc.

• Can informal and formal life long learning experiences inform each other?
• How can curriculum in formal learning organizations support the healthy development of life long learning?
• How do we capture our learning so it can be shared with others? That is, what types of artifacts can be generated and shared?

Thanks Ken

4. farideh mashayekh (bazargan) - june 1st, 2007 at 2:01 pm

Ken, Thank you. Following are answers to your interesting questions:

1. Yes, formal and informal lifelong learning experiences can inform each other through the adoption of constructive approach to learning.
2. The curriculum in formal learning institution can support the development of LLL.through mastery of deep learning and critical thinking.
3. We can capture our learning through the improvement of our mental representation.

regards, Farideh

5. ken udas - june 4th, 2007 at 4:55 am

Farideh,

Thank you. I would like to follow up a little more about how you see the sharing of learning through “mental representations.” Clearly, life long learning (LLL), as you have described it, has an active component in which learners engage with each other and their environments. I assume that LLL does not necessarily happen in isolation and that it can be quite social. Frequently part of active learning is the generation of artifacts, things that have some information content that can be shared. I am wondering if you can describe some of this in terms of your conception of LLL and the potential usefulness of open educational resources.

I am very interested in learning your thoughts about the types of things that are typically created through LLL and how we will share them. Is there an opportunity to network life long learners and the LLL process across cultures and boarders, at a distance, perhaps using technologies to connect learners? If so, could you describe this? Ken